This series is dedicated to the gallant service performed by the brave airmen of World War 2 who risked all so that we may enjoy our American way of life. The phrase “Big Brother, Little Brother” refers to the way the heavy bomber and fighter escort aircraft pilots called each other on the radio chatter.
On a personal note, my father “John” served as a flight engineer on a B-25 Mitchell out of Italy in 1944 and 1945. He made it back alive, as did my father-in-law “Danny” who served as a belly gunner on a B-24 Liberator out of Libya. “Danny” was one of the few airmen who flew in both Ploesti oil field raids to Romania (June 1942 and August 1943) and did so without so much as a scratch. He flew his 25 missions and returned to the US as a gunnery instructor (Lead, Dammit, Lead!).
Finding all the caches will display a GeoArt form of the Big Brother, Little Brother relationship on your map. The caches were not meant to be difficult to find. If you can’t find a cache, it’s probably missing. Send me a picture of the location by email, I’ll accept the find and replace the cache.
PB2Y Coronado
The Coronado resulted from a U.S. Navy request for the development of a maritime patrol bomber larger than the PBY Catalina, one that would have increased performance and good weapon load capability. Though the prototype first flew in December 1937, the Navy did not have the funds at that time to procure the aircraft, and Consolidated had to wait 15 months before orders were placed. During that time improvements in the aircraft's stability and hydrodynamic performance were made, so that the 1939 version was considerably improved. Variants served with the U.S. Navy from 1940 on, with 10 examples being used by the RAF.
Consolidated PB2Y-5 Coronado Technicals
General characteristics-
Crew: 10
Length: 79 ft 3 in
Wingspan: 115 ft 0 in
Height: 27 ft 6 in
Wing area: 1,780 ft²
Empty weight: 40,850 lb
Max. takeoff weight: 66,000 lb
Powerplant: 4 × Pratt & Whitney R-1830-92 radial engines, 1,200 hp each
Performance-
Maximum speed: 194 mph
Cruise speed: 170 mph
Range: 1,070 mi at 131 mph
Service ceiling: 20,500 ft
Armament-
Guns:
6× .50 in M2 Browning machine guns in twin nose, dorsal, and tail powered turrets
2× .50 in M2 Browning machine guns in manual waist mounts
Bombs:
2× Mark 13 torpedoes or
Up to 12,000 lb of bombs, housed in the wings
Survivors
There are no known survivors.